CEACS
(Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Ciencias Sociales), officially opened in
September 1987, forms part of the Instituto Juan March de Estudios e Investigaciones,
a private research institute founded in October 1986 and recognized by the
Spanish Ministry of Education and Science.

The principal objective of the Centre is to undertake fundamental research
in the social sciences. All the activities of the Centre, including postgraduate
teaching, are conceived and developed in order to pursue this goal. Research
carried out at the Centre is essentially concerned with the study of the
structure and evolution of advanced contemporary societies, their political
systems, economies, and cultural and historical roots. Hence the Centre
focuses on the analysis of topics such as the institutional conditions
for economic modernization, political and sociological aspects of internationalization
and regionalization, the current redefinition of the welfare state, and
the bases for the legitimacy of liberal democracies and market economies.
Research concentrates on the geographical and cultural area of Europe.

Given the particular importance which the Centre attaches to research,
the teaching programme pays special attention to questions of social science
methodology. The core disciplines are Sociology and Political Science;
however, an interdiciplinary approach is fostered. Comparative analysis
is a feature of research carried out at the Centre and is fostered through
extensive international links maintained with other research teams.

Study programme

The Centres study programme consists of two distinct stages: the
first one leads to the Masters degree, and the second one to the
doctorate.

The first stage spans two academic years. Students take a number of methodological,
empirical and theoretical courses in the fields of Sociology and Political
Science as well as two background courses in economics. The purpose of
the Masters stage is to prepare students for the second stage, the
doctorate. It is designed to provide students with a well-rounded and
systematic knowledge of the social sciences and research methods which
will enable them to begin their thesis.

The second stage is dedicated to the completion of a doctoral thesis
with a comparative and analytical approach based on empirical research.
Before moving on to this second stage, students must obtain the degree
of Master in Social Sciences of the Institute Juan March and demonstrate
their ability to carry out and present a thesis proposal which falls within
the Centres research profile.

At present there are twelve students in the Masters programme and eighteen
in the Doctoral programme. Fourteen students have successfully defended
their doctoral thesis and have been granted the title Doctor Miembro
del Instituto Juan March.

Research

The Centre specializes above all on comparative political studies in
the European perspective. At present, the permanent members of the faculty
are mainly working in five interrelated areas. The first one is comparative
sociology of economic policies. It encompasses the analysis of the influence
of regimes, governments, institutions, and ideologies on economic policies
and examines the way in which economic results influence politics and
support for governments. The second area of research analyses the connections
between equality, economic development and social policy. One of the most
important connections is the evolution of European Welfare States.

Thirdly, faculty members are also involved in research on electoral behaviour
and the comparative analysis of the social, party and ideological factors
which influence the electoral preferences of the citizens of Western Europe,
above all those of Southern Europe. They also work on related questions
such as the territorial dimensions of political attitudes and institutional
aspects of electoral systems.

The fourth area of research focuses on the study of those organizations
which are connected with the productive system in contemporary societies
(trade unions, employers and professional associations), their role
in periods of rapid economic change, and the impact of post-industrial
unemployment in post-industrial societies.

Finally, research done by the Centres teaching staff is concerned
with democratization processes in Europe. Their work on the political
transition in Spain has nourished an interest in changes currently taking
place in Central and Eastern Europe, above all the evolution of parties
and party systems, the character of political cultures before and after
transitions, and economic and social reforms.

Visiting scholars

The Centre welcomes scholars whose research areas coincide with those
of the Centre. While space is limited at the library, visitors are given
complete access to the library's services and are welcome to attend the
public lectures and seminars. We usually have from six to twelve visiting
scholars at the Centre at a time, and their stays vary from one week to
one year. The library assists visitors in identifying other research library
collections in Spain which might be useful and writes letters of introduction
to the directors of such libraries.

Scholars interested in working at the Centre should write to José María
Maravall, Director Académico, and describe their research projects, send
a curriculum vitae, and include the dates of their visits.

Library

The Centres library holds a collection of more than 35,000 volumes
and more than 550 journals and periodicals as well as a large number of
electronic databases. The library was established in 1987. Due to a 6,000
volume donation of the research library of the Banco Urquijo covering
the period from the 40s to the mid-80s, the collection has more historical
depth than its age suggests. The librarys holdings both reflect
the study and research interests of the Centre and provide supporting
material in the fields of history, economics, law and political philosophy.

The library is connected to INTERNET as well as to other Spanish and
international information networks. As a member of the Inter-university
Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), it also has access
to the ICPSR databases and collections.

The library offers interlibrary loan and photocopying services via the
British Library and a number of other libraries both in Spain and abroad.
It participates in the avtivities of the European Cooperation in Social
Science Information and Documentation Group as well as in other cooperative
information activities in Spain and Europe.

On the Centre's web page (http://www.march.es/ijm/ceacs/texten.htm)
the library publishes its list of periodical publications holdings and
a monthly acquisition bulletin. Plans for putting its catalogue, which
is now available online internally, on the Internet will be realized in
1997.

Publications

Each year the Centre publishes a number of Estudios Working Papers
in order to make the work of the Centres scholarly community available
to a wider academic public. This series includes papers written both by
professors, researchers and students at the Centre and by others who participate
in its activities. A list of papers is provided on the Centres web
page; for those published from 1995 onwards full text versions are available.

Within the Doctoral Thesis Series a limited number of the theses
sucessfully defended by the Centres students is published. They
are available to interested academic circles. This series currently comprises
fourteen doctoral theses.

Public lectures, research seminars and workshop luncheons

In addition to its research and teaching activities, the Centre hosts
a number of public and private events including lectures, research seminars
and workshop luncheons. Speakers are invited from Spain and from abroad
and include leading scholars and specialists in a number of academic disciplines
as well as prominent public figures.

Administration and faculty

The Centres activities are supervised by the Board
of Trustees of the Instituto Juan March. The Scientific Committee is responsible
for the overall supervision of the doctoral research carried out by students
at the Centre. It also collaborates with the Instituto Juan March regarding
the definition of the overall research and academic orientation of the
Centre.

The Scientific Committee is formed by the following professors: Gøsta
Esping-Andersen (Professor of Sociology, Università di Trento, Italy),
Juan José Linz (Sterling Professor of Political and Social Science, Yale
University), José Maria Maravall (Professor of Sociology at the Universidad
Complutense de Madrid and Honorary Fellow of St. Antonys College,
Oxford University), José Ramón Montero (Professor of Political Science
at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Adam Pszeworski (Professor of
Political Science and Economics, New York University), Steven Rosenstone
(Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota) and Vincent
Wright (Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford University).

The Administrative Director of the Centre is Javier Gomá,
the Academic Director is José María Maravall. The permanent members of
the faculty are José María Maravall, José Ramón Montero, Modesto Escobar
(Professor of Sociology and Head of the Department of Sociology of the
School of Social Sciences, Universidad de Salamanca), Andrew Richards
(Centre for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences) and Mariano Torcal (Universidad
Autónoma de Madrid). The Director of the library is Martha Peach, the
librarians are Almudena Knecht and Jesús Cuéllar.